Scam Brokers Blacklist In 2026

We have assigned every possible suspicious broker in the list below a ‘Danger Rating’ from 1-5, where 5 represents the greatest danger. To be clear, we consider every single one dangerous, but some are a particularly grave threat based on the size of their operations and the level of threat they pose to investors’ funds.

The untrustworthy, unrecommended, and suspicious brokers below are derived from a mix of sources; individual firms our experts have identified in their ongoing work operating in the online trading space, and firms extracted from our larger scam dataset.

Every day the BrokerListings.com team are finding and investigating suspect brokers and online trading providers, with the list below frequently updated.

See the top-rated brokers that passed our safety and regulation checks.

Broker Blacklist

Note some of the website URLs above may no longer be live as fraudulent sites are sometimes only up for days or weeks before they are shut down (often scammers then set up very similar sounding domains and branding). They were live at the time they were identified and evaluated.

Check out our standalone warning list of Telegram trading signals groups. They’re not brokers – they’re individuals or small groups that push signals and copy trading in private social media, often with questionable sales tactics.

We also sometimes issue standalone warnings about providers we’re especially concerned about. We’ve pulled out some notable examples below to show you the sorts of alarm bells that draw the attention of our team. Note that we are not definitively labeling any firm below a scam – they are listed because of the experience, findings and opinions of our experts.

Call Out Warnings:

• We came across TagOption in April 2026 after it was gaining traction online, especially in Kenya. We highly suspect this is an untrustworthy broker and found 13 discrepancies between its claims and the actual trading service and experience when we ran our investigations, plus 7 specific red flags. We recommend all retail investors avoid this ‘broker’.
• We ran into BetaBinary in May 2026 after we twigged it was likely the same group behind TagOption. We believe it’s a highly suspicious platform and documented 15 safety issues. We urge traders to avoid BetaBinary.
• We investigated Trade FDC in May 2026 and found 16 discrepancies between its claims and the reality. Most worryingly, it claimed to be authorized by four regulators (ASIC, FSCA, MFSA, VFSC), but we could not verify any of these – it appears to be at the very least highly misleading. We suggest all traders avoid this provider.
• We reviewed Finelo in May 2026 because we were concerned about misleading marketing practices, especially around its ‘AI trading’ tools, as well as its aggressive subscription and dispute T&Cs. We aren’t categorizing it as a scam, but we still recommend inexperienced investors avoid it.
• We evaluated prop trading firm GetLeveraged and found cause for concern. Regulatory warnings from the CySEC, around 80 complaints from users (many citing payout problems), one-sided T&Cs, and a lack of transparency from the support team when we quizzed them on the brokerage/trading infrastructure should you qualify for a funded account.
• We do not recommend BiKing Exchange after discovering lapsed or revoked regulatory licenses in the US and Canada, questionable sales tactics deployed on social channels like Telegram, and having reviewed multiple withdrawal complaints, including of charges of up to 25%. Stick to more legitimate, trusted exchanges to trade crypto.
• We’re concerned HabbyForex is an untrustworthy provider of trading education and forex signals, targeting traders in Nigeria with questionable advertising practices, suspicious reviews, and undisclosed commercial arrangements with offshore brokers. We’re urging retail traders to avoid HabbyForex’s educational platform and signals groups on Telegram.
• We evaluated SageMaster in August 2026 and found several causes for concern: Regulatory warnings from several European bodies, including CSSF in Luxembourg and FSC in Bulgaria, marketing that suggests its an educational platform yet products upon testing that look AI trading suggestions and automated crypto trades, and a high-risk offshore company base.
• We tracked and investigated FXO Exchange in 2026, finding a web of domains used to onboard users, alongside extremely limited transparency about the company, regulatory warnings, unhelpful customer support, and a suspicious invite-only system.
• We investigated Nova Forex Trading in August 2026 after we noticed it was getting attention online, especially in Kenya. Through hands-on testing, including placing test trades and trying to get through to support in multiple occasions, we documented 12 safety concerns, including a lack of regulation and transparency, plus an empty and useless charting package. We believe all retail traders should avoid Nova Forex.
• We did a detailed assessment of Zephgain in August 2026 and found multiple safety issues, including various domains with almost identical wording, fake user reviews, team members and addresses, no regulatory approvals, suspiciously high profit claims, and a business model that’s more of a sales funnel than a legitimate AI trading platform. We strongly recommend retail investors avoid Zephgain.
• We conducted an investigation into Gift of Legacy in August 2026. While not a typical brokerage scam, it still targets individuals looking to invest online and make passive income, so it caught our attention. Our Gift of Legacy review found a dangerous referral business model, misleading marketing, and multiple regulatory warnings.
• We did a deep-dive Tradevisor AI review in August 2026. We found a provider of AI trading signals claiming a 94.7% win rate that seemed to contrast with user reviews, a large subscriber base that didn’t tie with our external research, and a lack of transparency about the operators and how its signals are derived.
• We ran a full investigation into Crest Capital Hub in August 2026. Our Crest Capital Hub review reveals a broker that seemingly lies about its regulatory credentials, has an active warning against it from the OSC in Canada, falsely claims it has 10 million clients, and runs an online trading platform that’s slow and unreliable.
• We tested and evaluated CryptoGold Exchange in September 2026, the main platform behind Global Gold Coin (GGC), a token that’s in theory backed by a multibillion-dollar gold mine based in Nevada in the US. Yet our CryptoGold Exchange safety review found a broken website, no support, a crypto token you can’t sell or swap, and a key stakeholder linked to a SEC sanction and fine in 2008.

Broker Greylist

It’s important to acknowledge that not all trading providers that land on our radar due to initial concerns turn out to be fraudulent or highly suspicious. For example, below are some firms that, following our investigations, we’re satisfied are legitimate operations, but that we still don’t deem safe enough to put our own money with for continued trading:

• We looked into fomo in July 2026, an app gaining steam for offering trading on volatile memecoins. Our review of fomo found that it isn’t necessarily a scam, but the high risk nature of its products paired with concerning user reviews on Trustpilot and app stores mean that we wouldn’t recommend it.
• We investigated Brex Capital in August 2026, a new-ish brand that was aimed at traders in Thailand, Vietnam and the wider Asia Pacific especially. Our review of Brex Capital found that it wasn’t an outright scam like some of the brokers in our blacklist, but that it was still very high risk owing to its links to a firm at the centre of fraud investigation in Thailand, its weak regulatory credentials, and extreme trading conditions, notably 1:3000 leverage.
• We evaluated Elefin in August 2026, a CFD broker accepting traders globally with a seeming focus in India due to local payment methods and initial concerning customer reviews. Our Elefin review uncovered a high-risk broker that’s unregulated with no segregated client accounts, very high leverage that it describes as “low risk”, other suspicious marketing on its website, plus platform and product claims that don’t match the reality.
• We carefully reviewed OrangeX in August 2026 – a crypto exchange offering perpetual futures, various digital tokens, 1:200 leverage, and bonus promotions. Our OrangeX review concluded it was very high risk owing to misleading regulatory claims, low third-party ratings, and a pattern of withdrawal complaints from users.
• We ran an investigation into prop firm, Pivex. Our Pivex review unearthed questionable advertising that marketed funded account programs as suitable for beginners, alongside a distinct lack of transparency around who runs the proprietary trading firm, plus a relatively short track record.
• We tested The Trading Master, a copy trading provider that pools client money into PAMM and MAMM accounts. However, our review of The Trading Master found regulatory alerts in Canada, a confusing and opaque corporate structure, withdrawal complaints from users, and advertised drawdown rates that were much lower than public data suggests.
• We put forex, CFD and copy trading provider, Windsor Brokers, under the microscope in September 2026. In our Windsor Brokers review, we found weak regulatory credentials, inadequate customer support, concerning bonus conditions, a large number of user complaints, and ultimately a trading environment that didn’t justify the risks.
• We investigated Delta Exchange India in September 2026. In our Delta Exchange review, we found high fees, no robust regulatory oversight, a slow platform during our hands-on tests, and multiple complaints from other users citing problems with charges, execution, poor support, and freezes, amongst other things.

Be Wary: The Rise Of “AI Trading” Providers

A growing trend we’re observing in 2026 is so-called brokers and providers of “AI-powered” trading. These are firms looking to capitalize on the significant interest among retail investors with the abilities of artificial intelligence to assist with online trading, and deserve an express warning.

Our tests so far, which includes investigating a handful of firms that even include “AI” in their names, including Sweetex AI, Trader AI, TradingPilotAI, and TraderVisor AI, show that AI terminology is at best being used for questionable marketing practices, and at worst as a tactic to solicit deposits to untrustworthy and high risk trading platforms and providers of other tools.

That’s why we’re urging all traders to be especially cautious if they see brokers, signal, indicator and bot sellers, or other trading providers claim their tools are driven by artificial intelligence, and even more so if any sort of returns are guaranteed. AI is not a magic ticket to profits.

Regulator Warning Lists

To keep the list above practical in terms of size, we stick to calling out the brokers we’re most concerned about currently. However, we also recommend checking the regulators warning lists below for alerts about brokerage scams. We have listed the 25 resources our team find the best in terms of frequency of warnings and exposure of new fraudulent or unauthorized trading providers.

1. US SEC Investor Alerts and Bulletins
2. US CFTC RED List — Registration Deficient List
3. US FINRA Investor Insights and Alerts
4. UK FCA Warning List — Unauthorised Firms
5. Australia ASIC / Moneysmart Investor Alert List
6. Canada CIRO Investor Alerts
7. Canada CSA Investor Alerts
8. Canada Ontario Securities Commission Investor Warnings and Alerts
9. New Zealand FMA Warnings and Alerts
10. Singapore MAS Investor Alert List
11. Hong Kong SFC Alert List
12. ESMA Warnings and Publications for Investors
13. Switzerland FINMA Warning List
14. France AMF Blacklists of Unauthorised Companies and Websites
15. Germany BaFin Consumer Warnings
16. Italy CONSOB Warnings / Abusive Financial Services
17. Spain CNMV Warnings to the Public
18. Netherlands AFM Registers and Warning Lists
19. Belgium FSMA List of Companies Operating Unlawfully
20. Sweden Finansinspektionen Investor Alerts
21. Ireland Central Bank Warning Notices
22. Cyprus CySEC Warnings
23. Dubai DFSA Alerts
24. South Africa FSCA — Warnings and Alerts
25. Malaysia Securities Commission Investor Alert List

Spotted A Suspicious Broker?

If you’ve been scammed by an online trading provider or come across a broker that you’re concerned isn’t trustworthy, let the scam experts here at BrokerListings.com know. Where appropriate, we will run our own investigation, share our findings, and if suitable add them to our blacklist.

You can share all the relevant details to us at: contact@brokerlistings.com.